Best Christmas shows, festive plays and musicals in London for 2024
It’s snow joke: we’ve recommended the very best plays, musicals and ballets happening in the West End this Christmas. Here’s everything you need to know.
With 40 days to go, soon we'll be saying "It's Christmas time"! But there’s no need to be afraid, because we’re making sure you’re more than prepared for this year’s festive season.
To help you get in the festive spirit this year (and we don’t mean just humming along to your Christmas playlist spirit, we mean full-on, giddy, can’t sleep on Christmas Eve excitement), we’ve put together this list of the best Christmas shows to see in London.
Featuring plays, musicals and even ballets going on at the West End this winter, this guide is everything you need for the perfect Christmas theatre trip. We’ve got family-friendly shows, like Stick Man as well as more serious performances like A Christmas Carol, and even something called Father Christmas needs a wee!
Plus, if like us you're desperate news of Elf! the Musical, we've got the latest update below. Snow, without further ado, here are the best Christmas shows to see in London.
For even more exciting things to do in the Big Smoke this winter (and ones that mostly involve being indoors!), be sure to read our best UK pantomimes and best Christmas gift experiences.
Best West End Christmas shows at a glance:
- Hansel and Gretel, from £7
- Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out, from £13
- A Sherlock Carol, from £16
- Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist, from £19
- Nutcracker, from £22
- Christmas Carol(ish), from £25
- West End Musical Christmas, from £25
- Father Christmas Needs a Wee!, from £27
- Stick Man, from £29
- The Snowman, from £31
- Christmas with Anton Du Beke, from £46
- A Christmas Carol, from £75
- The Great Christmas Feast, from £105
Best West End Christmas shows for 2024
A Christmas Carol at the Old Vic
- 9th Nov 2024 – 4th Jan 2025
A Christmas Carol is back at the Old Vic this December, once again bringing the chilling Dickens tale to life. This year the role is being taken on by Doctor Who and Life on Mars actor John Simm, taking over from his Time Lord counterpart Christopher Eccleston. So let's see the covetous old sinner come to life once more.
Buy A Christmas Carol tickets from £75 at London Theatre Direct
For more details about John Simm in A Christmas Carol, click here.
Christmas Carol(ish) @sohoplace
- 16th – 31st Dec 2024
Beloved stars of Ghosts and Ted Lasso haunt this production. Nick Mohammed and Martha Howe Douglas star in A Christmas Carol(ish) a comedy play which sold out @sohoplace last year. When Santa cancels Christmas on Christmas Eve, he’s visited by three ghosts who must convince him to see the error of his ways and rediscover the magic of Christmas. But there's just three hours to go and nothing is done!
Buy Christmas Carol(ish) tickets from £25 at London Theatre Direct
The Nutcracker at London Coliseum
- 12th Dec 2024 – 12th Jan 2025
The classic ballet is back this winter featuring the music of Tchaikovsky and the choreography of Arielle Smith. Featuring over 100 dancers and musicians, this dance follows Clara, a young girl who follows her toy nutcracker into a magical world run by a formidable rat king.
Buy Nutcracker tickets from £22 at London Theatre Direct
We were lucky enough to speak to The Lehman Trilogy's John Heffernan ahead of his performance in Sam Mendes's three-hour epic.
Stick Man at Bloomsbury Theatre
- 4th Dec 2024 – 5th Jan 2025
Julia Donaldson's beloved story is being brought to life this winter at the Bloomsbury Theatre. See Stick Man caught up in a series of adventures as he's chased by dogs, swans and people, all the while trying to get back to his family in time for Christmas, but will he get there?
Buy Stick Man tickets from £29 at London Theatre Direct
Have you heard there's a Black Friday theatre deals event happening right now?
Hansel and Gretel at The Globe
- 29th Nov 2024 – 6th Jan 2025
Based on the classic Grimm fairy tale, as well as the poem Hansel & Gretel: A Nightmare in Eight Scenes by renowned poet Simon Armitage, this adaptation reframes the story around the life and struggles of war-affected refugees. Coming to Shakespeare’s Globe for just £7, this show promises to be an unforgettable experience.
Buy Hansel and Gretel tickets from £7 at London Theatre Direct
Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist at Rose Theatre Kingston
- 30th Nov 2024 – 5th Jan 2025
What a title! You're undoubtedly intrigued, so Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist is set in the legendary realm of Sherwood forest, where the Christmas cheer is dwindling. As the Sheriff of Nottingham squeezes the citizens for all they're worth, Robin Hood hatches a daring plan to bring joy back to the land.
Buy Robin Hood and the Christmas Heist tickets from £19 at London Theatre Direct
Here on the Going Out team, we like to review the things we recommend. Just take a look at our The Lehman Trilogy review and Why am I so Single? review.
A Sherlock Carol at Marylebone Theatre
- 29th Nov 2024 – 5th Jan 2025
Now, there’s a truly elementary show going on at the Marylebone Theatre this winter. In a mysterious case of world’s colliding, Sherlock Holmes is strolling through London one day, when a now grown-up Tiny Tim arrives, asking him to help find a missing Ebenezer Scrooge. As Sherlock’s mystery unfolds, he finds a missing diamond, a threatening letter, and a few too many ghosts for his liking.
Buy A Sherlock Carol tickets from £16 at London Theatre Direct
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Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out at Theatre Royal Haymarket
- 28th Nov 2024 – 5th Jan 2025
Make this Christmas oinktastic with Peppa Pig's Fun Day Out. Showing for a limited-time at Theatre Royal Haymarket, you can join George, Mummy Pig, Daddy Pig and all of Peppa's best friends on an adventure with plenty of muddle puddles and giggles.
Buy Peppa Pig’s Fun Day Out tickets from £13 at London Theatre Direct
Looking for more of the best kids theatre shows? Our friends at MadeForMums have some brilliant suggestions.
The Snowman at Peacock Theatre
- 23rd Nov 2024 – 4th Jan 2025
We defy any British person not to get emotional when they hear the classic opening chimes of Walking in the Air, and to wish that they too could fly around with a friendly snowman on Christmas Eve. But alas, we’ll just have to content ourselves with going to see The Snowman on stage instead. Returning to the West End for its 27th year, The Snowman will be showing at the Peacock Theatre, once again based on the original picture book by Raymond Briggs and the iconic 1982 TV movie.
Buy The Snowman tickets from £31 at London Theatre Direct
Father Christmas Needs a Wee! at Arts Theatre
- 7th – 23rd Dec 2024
Be honest, you’re already sold on this one based on the title alone, aren’t you? Well, just in case you need a bit more convincing, Father Christmas Needs a Wee! is a family-friendly musical based on the book by Nicholas Allan. In it, Father Christmas is busy going to all the different houses on Christmas Eve when, suddenly, all that milk makes him desperately need a wee, but what can he do? To find out how this high-stakes situation resolves itself, you’ll see the play for yourself at London’s Arts Theatre.
Buy Father Christmas Needs a Wee! tickets from £27 at London Theatre Direct
More of this in our best kids theatre shows guide.
West End Musical Christmas at Lyric Theatre
- 16th Dec 2024
For just one night, and one night only, you can boom out the holliest, jolliest Christmas songs and the best and brightest musical theatre classics with the help of some of the West End's biggest stars. Brought to you by the creators of the West End musical brunch, this "all-out Christmas party!" singalong is being hosted by West End and Broadway star Trevor Dion Nicholas, best known playing Genie in Disney’s Aladdin and George Washington in Hamilton. With his help, and a sack full of stellar performances from other theatre stars, you'll come away feeling so full of festive spirit you might burst.
Buy West End Musical Christmas tickets from £25 at London Theatre Direct
Christmas with Anton Du Beke at His Majesty's Theatre
- 22nd Dec 2024
When the final "Keeeeep Dancing" has been said, you may expect judge Anton Du Beke to head on a long Christmas holiday, but no! Instead the Strictly legend is coming to London for a night of singing, dancing and splendour. It will be fab-yule-lous!
Buy Christmas with Anton Du Beke tickets from £46 at London Theatre Direct
If you're buying a Christmas present for the Strictly lover in your life, be sure to check out the best Strictly Come Dancing gifts.
The Great Christmas Feast
The RadioTimes.com Going Out team were lucky enough to be invited to The Great Christmas Feast, and we can wholeheartedly recommend this experience for Christmastime.
Sold out over six years, The Lost Estate's A Christmas Carol is essentially a one-man re-telling of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. The phenomenal show takes place in three acts, with a delicious course in-between each one. You'll feel completely swept away in the immersive production as from the moment you arrive, you feel like you've transported to Christmas Eve 1843.
Buy The Great Christmas Feast tickets from £105 at The Lost Estate
Is Elf! the Musical coming to London in 2024?
There has been no confirmation so far that Elf! the Musical will return to London this Christmas.
What we do know is that Buddy and his band of friends will be heading on tour across the UK from November to January. The show will be stopping in Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Birmingham and more.
You can find tickets for the various shows on ATG Tickets, Ticketmaster and the Ticket factory.
- Buy Elf tour tickets at ATG Tickets
- Buy Elf tour tickets at Ticketmaster
- Buy Elf tour tickets at Ticket Factory
For more great days out, here's what to do in London this weekend, as well as the best musicals on tour UK.
Plus, here's Bonnie Langford on the Les Misérables Arena tour.
